Welcome to The Dark Side of White Flint, an ongoing series about the not-so-wonnerful, wonnerful, wonnerful side of urbanizing the suburbs of Montgomery County.
One recent closing at White Flint Mall deserves its own special tribute: the mall's movie theater, AMC Loews White Flint 5. As you might guess from its name, the cineplex indeed featured 5 screens. It opened in 1977, and held 1500 seats. White Flint Mall and this movieplex were not my main hangouts growing up, but I did see a number of movies there over the years.
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| "The balcony is closed" |
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| Now-empty movie poster cases |
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| One last vicarious trek along the ramp |
Thanks Robert for reporting this news.
ReplyDeleteI go to the White Flint Post Office all the time and love them being there. Not only are the hours great, but they are not annoyingly officious like some other ones around here. I am from NYC, (Bronx) and moved to MD in the 80's, and to the White Flint area in the 90's. I raised a son who is now 18 on Zany Brainy and White Flint Mall. I agree that malls are mismanaged for whatever reasons. I always thought that the space at White Flint could serve the community better. Add some shops that people could actually USE. A drug store, a hardware store, a larger toy store, more arts offerings...etc etc. I think that an enclosed space can be a positive, but the people would have to embrace it. Maybe I am expecting a Mall Valhalla, and I probably don't belong in the suburbs. A 'mixed use' development is going to be just another reason for getting into your car to drive to a place to find everyday needs, as I highly doubt the new retailers are going to offer services like shoe repair, like White Flint did. It is not going to be real. Man oh man, I can go on and on about this stuff. And as far as making this area walkable, I will believe it when I see it. Already I see crosswalks that are in favor of cars, and not pedestrians. I do think Rockville Town Center is kinda nice with the library and all, but there needs to be a post office closer in, and some other basic offerings. The PO is a'Main Street' staple. And we all know what happened in Bethesda with that one. Thanks for the low downs.
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